Lucerne Part II - the Mountains

Last week I shared some photos of "watery" Lucerne, Switzerland--the centuries old wooden Chapel Bridge over the River Reuss, Lake Lucerne, street life, and the moving Lion Monument. Couldn't leave this part of Switzerland without a trip up Mount Pilatus (so named because local legend has it that Pontius Pilate is buried on this mountain). At the top of Mount Pilatus the elevation is 7,000 ft. And from there, if the fog cooperates even a little, here's the view you'll get of the snow-capped Jungfrau and Eiger peaks of the Swiss Alps:

Getting to the summit of Mount Pilatus requires several modes of transportation, each more thrilling than the last. From Lucerne we took the tour bus up the mountain to the Alpnahstad which translates loosely to "place where you get on a four person ski or chair lift" and skim up the mountain overlooking Lake Lucerne. From the ski lift you could see Swiss huts, farms, and alpine forests:About halfway up the mountain (4,000 ft.) we transferred to aerial gondolas that zipped you up the now rocky slopes on cables--quite thrilling to be suspended in mid-air on the side of the Swiss Alps! Here we are about to get onto terra firma of the summit:This is the Mount Pilatus viewing point. From here you can actually hike up even further to see the distant mountain peaks:

The day we were on Mount Pilates we were treated to an impromptu concert of Swiss Alpine horns. Very beautiful.To get down from the summit, we rode the cogwheel railway, so close to the mountain that we could see alpine plants and even some flowers through the open windows of the cable car:Then we finished the day with a cruise of Lake Lucerne, getting to see Mount Pilatus from below:

So, there you have a tour that required a bus, chairlift, aerial gondola, cogwheel railway and lake cruise boat! But the sights and sounds were worth it. Here's a sample of an alps horn performance in closing: